On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 11:00 AM, "Dan Minette" <danmine...@att.net> wrote:
[Dan] >>In fact, the candidates that now exist require a rare supplement that >>isn't found in ocean water. ?It won't be costly to supply it, but they >>don't grow without it. ?It's kinda like worrying that corn will displace >>the woodlands. [Keith] >>If you are going to grow it inside of glass tubes where you can supply >>the rare supplement, then the cost of the tubes has to be around 1/5th >>of the cost of solar power on an area basis. > > That's not the plan. _Right now_ a pilot plant is either in operation or > about to start up near Austin TX. They have trays that collect the > hydrocarbons that are sweated off the plants. The person who is CEO is a > rich, successful venture capitalist, who's Phd in biology from MIT a ways > back proposed the mapping of the human gnome. My understanding was this > practical plan was the starting point for the project. > > We'll see how well he does. But, he has been successful in the past in > bioengeering, and has a net worth in the mulit-millions. He thinks he can > get the price of diesel down to $30/barrel with his process. You didn't address my objection which is the low efficiency with which plants convert light into chemical energy. That's what causes the high area requirements. You are making an argument from authority which I don't see as being backed up by physics and chemistry > http://www.jouleunlimited.com/ There is remarkably little actual information at this URL. > > As with solar, no offense Keith, but it's all for the True Believer. For > example, lift costs have not come down appreciably in 50 years. Of course not. The present cost and the present market are and largely government projects. If it helps any, I no longer think power satellites or serious human presence in space will *ever* happen. Something that I don't think is as good but is certainly a lot less expensive has come along. I am now working on that project to the exclusion of any work on space transportation. Tell you more about it in August. Keith > The costs > of things like gene splicers have been going down by close to 50% per year. > Now, past history doesn't guarantee future performance, but I know it is > much more likely that we will have a computer that's 20x as fast in 10 years > for the same cost than a plane that?s 2x as fast in 10 years for the same > money. > > Now, I'd rate his odds as less than 50/50, but it's the most likely thing > I've seen in 30 years. > > Dan M. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Brin-l mailing list > bri...@box535.bluehost.com > http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com > > > End of Brin-l Digest, Vol 18, Issue 1 > ************************************* > _______________________________________________ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
